An officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department was charged with assault Wednesday after he injured a man with his truck last week while intoxicated, according to court documents.
Thomas Caygle, 37, of Clearfield, was charged in 2nd District Court on Wednesday with aggravated assault and negligently operating a vehicle resulting in injury.
A statement from Salt Lake City police clarifies that “at the time of the arrest, the officer was off-duty, driving a personal vehicle, and not acting as a Salt Lake City Police Department employee.”
On Dec. 30, Caygle caused a minor crash in Ogden with his truck, charging documents state. After he and two people in another vehicle moved their cars off the main road, they all got out of the vehicles and started to argue.
Witnesses told police Caygle then got back into his truck, put it in drive, and drove forward, pinning the driver of the other car between the two vehicles.
Caygle “would not reverse to release the person pinned between the cars,” documents state.
According to a video that the other driver posted online, he remained trapped between the two cars, yelling for help, until his girlfriend ran to his driver’s seat and pulled their vehicle forward.
The driver was hospitalized, and the video shows cuts and scrapes on the man’s knees.
Witnesses told police that they could smell alcohol on Caygle’s breath, that his speech was slurred, and that he had trouble keeping his balance. The officer admitted to drinking alcohol before the crash and confrontation, documents state.
Caygle also failed two field sobriety tests, according to the charging document. He was arrested by the Ogden Police Department and booked into the Weber County jail.
“Our community expects the very best of its police officers at all times, including when off-duty and on personal time,” Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown said in a statement. “We strive to exceed those expectations every day.”
“In reviewing the information and materials I’ve received so far,” Brown continued, “I am concerned and disappointed by this incident, which does not align with our core values and expectations. Following the conclusion of our internal investigation, any violation of department policy will result in prompt and full accountability.”
Salt Lake City police said Caygle was placed on paid administrative leave immediately and that the department has opened an internal investigation.